Hatchery for marine life



F. H. ELSWORTH HATCHERY FOR MARINE LIFE Feb. Z1, 1928.

Filed May 26. 192e lNVENTOR Tw/v/(H fwn/@Hm ATTORNEYS CII Patented Feb. 21, 1928.

FRANK H. ELSWORTH, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

HATCHERY non MARINE LIFE.

` Application ined May 2s,

' This inventionv relates to vhatcheries and particularly to an improved hatchery for marine life and has for an object to provide a construction wherein oysters and other shell fish life may be hatched and taken care of for a limited time.

Another object of the-invention is to provide a hatchery for oysters wherein means are presented for maintaining in al limited area ay substantially Videal condition for the spawn of the marine life and for the young life after hatching.

A further object is to provide a construction wherein a substantially ideal hatching condition may be maintained and also wherein the various enemies of the oysters or other life are eliminated during the hatching process and for a short time thereafter.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure l is al plan view of a hatchery, disclosing an embodimentof the invention, the upper part of the housing beingv broken away. Y Y

Figure 2 is a sectional view through yFigure l, approximately on line 2 2.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view through Figure l on line 3 3.

Figure i is an enlarged detail fragmentary perspective view showing a water separator and enemy eliminator.

. yFigure 5 is an end View of the hatchery.'

In the propagation of marine life and particularly in the propagation of oysters, it has been found that certain comparatively. sheltered'bodies of water present more or less ideal conditions forr the spawning, hatching and growth of oysters than the more exposed bodies of water. Oysters have a certain spawning season which lasts usually less than half fa month and,.consequently, all of the spawn and young oysters must be produced in this comparatively short period of time. However, at dierent parts of the earth the spawning season is at different times of theyear, as for instance, in 'Florida 1t is comparatively early, whereas in New York and Connecticut it is later, usually some time in August. y y m In the present invention means have been provided for providing a substantially ideal condition for taking care of spawning oysters and, consequently, if the device is located near New York for instance, spawning oysters from near by maybe used at the spawning time of said oysters and at other times of thev year, spawning oysters 1926. Serial No. 111,808.

parts of the earth so as to arrive shortly before they will spawn. The spawning oystersY are adapted to be placed in the hatchery sometime previous to the spawning period so that when they spawn, the -eggs may be properly taken care'of andthe young life protected for a limited time. By thus pr viding a substantially idealy condition for anytime of theV year, young oysters may be produced forseveral months in the year instead of one or two weeks.-

Referring to the accompanyingY drawing by numerals, l indicates a'bodyl of salt water which has a section 2 suitable for conversion into part-of the hatchery. If desired, instead of having a comparatively small neck of water a small stream or bed could be used without departing from the spirit of the'invent-ion and also if desired, an artificial basin or container could be used if desired. Preferably a body of salt water is selected where the jtide flows gently back and forth without much washing action. For the purpose ofy illustratingv the invention, the section 2 of water has been illustrated and above-and around the same has been kprovided a housing 3 which may have solid walls or wallsl with glass panels but preferably a roof 4 is provided with glass sections 5 capable of being tilted so as to be opened and allow air to pass. Associated'with the housing 3Vand preferably forming'part thereof, are gates 6: and 7 which may be fixed y,firmly in place but are preferably hingedly mounted and 'held Yin place by suitable catches so as` to be readily swungto an open positionwhenever desired. Each of these gates ispreferably yformed with a frame of wood or other material which rests on some form of packing, as for instance, rubber, whereby .nothing can pass through thevv gates except through the space enclosed by the frame.. This space .is Vprovided with wire mesh, preferablyy comparatively fine mesh so that the water and marine food may pass but ordinary'marine life, as for instance, snails and small fish, ycannot pass. Arranged in ythe section or neck 2 of water is a frame 8 of wood or other materialand on this frame is mounted a series of wire mesh shelves 9. The lowermost shelf 9 is adapted to .receive the oysters which are aboutto' yspawn and then the frameoysters and associated parts are lowered to the position shown in Figures 2 and 3. On the different shelves are preferably arranged shells, seaweed or other comparatively" hard substances whereby after the oysters'have spawned and the hatched oysters sink toward the bottom, they mayv strike some of these substances and adhere thereto. It will be noted that the wire mesh in the shelves 9 is sufficiently open to permit the passage of certain of the hatched oysters wh-ile certain of the hatched 'iysters engage y oysters spawn, the eggs will rise to the surface of the water or near the surface and by reason ofthe heat and action of the water, these eggs will in the course of time, hatch and produce the small live oyster which will after a shorttinie, sink toward the bottom and willkeep on sinkingvuntil it strikes some object to which it can adhere.

Tn all Waters there are certain enemiesto the oysters-and even in the confined water of neck 2,y certain enemies may be found which hatch in the Water the same asthe oysters. One of theL prominent enemies which attacks small oysters is the snail as well asl other marine or semi-marine life,V Means have been provided to eliminate these enemies so that practically all of the eggs may hatch and may develop into oysters. 1n order to maintain the temperature of the wwater in the neck. 2 in condition forA ideal hatching and developing of small oysters, a pump 11 has vbeen provided which is connected 'to .the body of water 12 by asuitable pipe 13; This body ofwater is always slightly colder thanV that containedin the neck 2 so that if it is desired to cool the water in neck 2, a desired quantity is pumped into the neck2 through the outlet ltwhich is controlled by a suitable valve 15. In case itv` shouldbe desired to raise the temperature in the neck 2, valve 15 is closed and Vvalve 16 opened. This will cause the water from pump 11 to pass through the heater 17, which heater may be any desired kind of heater and from this heater the water is discharged through pipe 18into neck 2. As the water is only heated slightly, any` food'that may be in the water will Ynaturally be deposited in the neck 2 and also food from adjacent waters 1 and 12 will pass through the gates 6 and?. In addition, at the proper time, marine food may beadded to the water in neck 2`by hand. Y

In order to eliminate the enemies ofthe spawns and young oysters, a pump 19'is provided, said pump being of any desired kind,as for instance, an ordinary Gould pumpv now on the market. The pump 19 draws up some of the water from the neck 2 and also the spawn and any enemies' adjacent the spawn. This combination of water, spawn and enemies is discharged into a rotating drum 20 through a suitable trough 21. y Bruin 20 -is provided with a rear wall 22 connected to the shaft 23, which shaft is rotated by `an electric motor or by any desired power means. The wall 22 is connected to the foraminous tubular section" 2e and drum 20, said tubular section being preferably of, rather line wire mesh though'a perforated sheet metal might be used. V EX- tending into the drum 2O .is a receiving or drip pan 25 merginginto a trough 25,'whicli trough discharges into a separator 27 which is preferably an ordinary cream separator ofl the centrifugaltype now well known on the market. As the water, spawnl andene# mies are discharged into the drum 20, the water will quickly pass through the drum while the spawn and enemies will .be carried'upwardly and pass the pan 25k sothat when gravity acts sufficiently on these forms of life they will' drop into the pan 25 and move down the trough 26 to the separator 27. 1t is, ofcourse, evident that a certain small quantity ofk water will also be. carried by the drum 2O and discharged into the pan 25' so that a sufficient liquid'condition is maintained to permit the` spawn and enemies to readily flow into the separator where the enemies are separated and dischargedl through pipe 28 into the body of water 1"y while the spawn is discharged through pipe 29 back into the neck 2. ll desired, the pipe 30 connecting the nozzle 31 to pump 19' may be flexible and Vof an appreciable length so that it canr be movedover the surface of the'water 1n neck i 2 or left at any desired point so that all ofthe spawn and'enemies may be gathered vup andv eventually pass through the sepa- `rater 27.

This action may be performed once ora number of times but preferably several times as the enemies hatchand develop in the favorable condition int-he neck llO 2I as well as the spawn and ifVV they were not removed from time to time theyV would kill or injure the spawn or hatched oysters.` After onebatch of spawnshave been properlyv taken care of and hatched, a second batch' of spawning oysters maybe usedy and the operationrepeated and ifdesired, other batchesmay be used from time to tim-eso as to provide a more or less continuous supply of young oysters 'for oyster beds to be planted at desired points.

What IA claim is:y

1. A hatchery, `for` oysters comprising means for enclosing a body of water, said means including a housing lfor protecting the water against change of temperature of the air and a pair lof gates formed of wire screens, said gates being submerged'and presenting restricted passage-ways for permitting water to flow, said water being adapted Vto receive spawning oysters, a pump for reranged above the body of water, a wire mesh gate connected with the housing and positioned in the water and extending from one bank to the other so as to enclose said body of water completely, said wire mesh acting to permit water and oyster food therein to freely pass back and forth while prevent-ing enemiesfrom passing into said body of water, and means for removing the enemies of the spawn from said body ofk water without injuring the spawn.

8. A hatchery for oysters comprising means for enclosing a body of water, said means including spaced gates of wire mesh, said wire mesh acting to permitfwater to freely enter and leave while preventing enemies of the oysters from entering, and means including a separator for removing from said body of water marine life which are enemies of the oysters.

4. A hatchery for oysters.. comprising a housing adapted to be placed over a body of water and extend from one bank to the other, a gate at each end of the housing, said gates depending into said water so as to separate the water beneath the housing from the water at each end of the housing, said gates being formed principally'of wire mesh screening whereby the water may freely flow back and forth through the gates while preventing objects of any appreciable rsize from passing into or from said body of water, a pump for pumping some of said body of water, the oyster spawn therein and enemies adjacent the spawn, a separating drum for receiving said water, spawn and enemies, said drum being provided with a pan and trough for guiding the spawn and enemies to a given point and the water back into the said body of water, a separator for separating said enemies and spawn, a pipe for directing the separated spawns back into said body of water, and means for directing the enemies to agiven point.

5. A hatchery for oysters comprising means for enclosing a body of water, said water being adapted to contain oyster spawn and the enemies of the oyster spawn, a pump for removing some of said water, spawn and enemies of the spawn, a rotatable foraminous 'drum positioned to receive in the lower part thereof of the water, spawn and spawns enemies from said pump, the rotation of said drum causing the spawn and spawns enemies, together with a small quantity of water, to move upwardly and then drop downwardly through the air, a receiving' pan positioned in said drum vabove the lower portion thereof for receiving the spawn, the

spawns enemies and the small quantity ot' water raised, said pan catching the spawn, the spawns enemies and the small quantity of water as they pass through the air under the action of gravity, a centrifugal separator, a conduit 'for guiding said spawn and spawns enemies together with said small quantity of water to said separator, a conduit extending from said separator for guiding the spawns enemies to a distant point, and a conduit for guiding the spawn and said small quantit body of water.

` FRANK H. nLswoRTH.

y of water back into saidl 

